Coach Danes
by O. Blunt
Summary: Luke took the job as coach just so that he would be able to pay for Culinary School. What he hadn't expected was that he would fall for a student. And not just any student, Lorelai. ON HIATUS.
1. Deer in the Headlights

I've replaced Professor Danes with a high school version of the teacher student relationship except Luke is a coach. I still plan on having a Professor Danes story just a better version that I will post later on.

* * *

Lorelai Gilmore carefully made her way through the crowded school halls. She had never felt as much like a fish out of water as she had for the past three months. Before that everything had been perfect. She was a senior, she had been on the cheer squad, and she had been popular plus had had a bunch of great friends. Well, she thought that they had been great friends. But then they had turned their backs on her the first chance they got and never looked back. Lorelai didn't understand why they had refused to believe her side of the story even when she had had proof.

Ever since the horrifying experience, Lorelai had only trusted one person that existed outside of her family. That person, Gwen Richards, had gained her trust when she had been just about the only person in the whole school who had stood up for her, who had believed in her. And even to the present day she couldn't understand why Gwen had done what she had done. Lorelai had never given the other girl a reason to.

Gwen was considered a geek; she had been since the first day of high school four years earlier. Lorelai, being a cheerleader and a total snob, had joined her friends in making fun of her. But, when Lorelai had really needed a friend, Gwen had stepped in and they had been best friends ever since.

Lorelai shook her head, remembering the shock that she had felt when her friend had followed her into the bathroom that awful day and had handed her a tissue, saying, "They're all jerks, you shouldn't listen to them."

Now, when Lorelai was scared to death of most guys and not feeling like she could trust most girls, Gwen was there for her, and Lorelai couldn't be more grateful.

"Lorelai!"

_Speaking of the angel, _she thought and turned to see her friend making her way through the school crowd until she was standing by her side.

"Hey, Gwen," she greeted, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips as Gwen juggled the pile of books in her small arms.

"Do you need some help carrying those books to your locker?"

Gwen studied Lorelai's relatively empty arms and shrugged. "If you don't mind."

Lorelai took two of the books and read the words that were printed across the front. She noticed that they were both from previous grades and her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Why are these from ninth and tenth grade?"

"I asked the teacher if I could use them to study for a paper I'm writing for my online college course," Gwen explained as if it was the simplest answer in the world.

Lorelai admired her friend. The girl did extra credit classes for high school and then went home every day, did her homework, and then went on the computer to do an online college course that she was taking. How she managed it all, Lorelai had no idea.

They reached their lockers and she quickly gathered her books for her first class. She didn't enjoy being in the halls very much. Too many people who bumped into her and too many boys that eyed her more than she would like. When she had complained about the latter to Gwen once, the other girl had said, "Look, Lorelai, I know you're scared of them, but it's not their fault that you're the prettiest girl in school."

Lorelai had sighed and just shrugged of her friend's compliment. She didn't care that their intentions might be harmless, it was the possibility that they could be harmful that scared her.

* * *

Luke Danes pushed open the gym doors and surveyed the area. Two boys were already tossing the ball around and about five others were scattered in the bleachers. He glanced at his watch and found that it was about thirty minutes before practice was set to start.

He set his stuff down and spent a few minutes checking out the gym. When he had taken the job he had gotten a quick look at the place, but he hadn't been able to check it out very thoroughly.

Wooden bleachers ran across both sides of the large room. A good sized stage sat at one end, while blue mats covered the walls at the other end. The school's mascot, a panther, was painted across one of the walls and on the center of the gym floor.

Luke considered the gym to be a pretty good size. Especially compared to the one that he played in when he was in high school.

A sound at the door broke him from his thoughts and he looked up to see a group of boys come in. He was pretty impressed with his team so far. A good many of them were over six feet tall, exceeding his height of 5'11, and they all seemed to be in pretty good shape.

This was Luke's first day at his new job. He had taken the job as coach at the high school when the former coach retired suddenly because of a back injury. He had previously worked as an intern for a large company, but was fired after a misunderstanding. Desperately needing a job to pay for the culinary school he was attending, he had seized the chance to coach the basketball team. Luke had played a lot in high school and had even received a scholarship for it. But, the scholarship didn't do him much good when he decided on culinary school instead of college. This decision had actually angered his dad so much that for the past seven years his dad was always cold to him, never engaging in conversation with his son. His father had rather had him work at the hardware store with him and taken the scholarship for basketball. But Luke would show him. In a year when he graduated from culinary school and became a very successful chef, he would see if his dad still felt upset over his son's decision.

When the rest of the boys had meandered in and practice reached starting time, Luke walked towards the center of the gym, scowling at the pain in his 27-year-old shoulder. He had had problems with his shoulder ever since he had been in a miner car accident three years earlier. He always tried to ignore the problem, but he had to admit that the pain was really good at nagging him.

Luke managed a smile for the teens as he began to speak. "Hello. I'm Coach Danes. I'm sure that you all have heard that Coach Mitchell has retired because of a back problem." Nods followed his statement, so he continued, "I know it's going to be different having a new coach this far into the season, so I'm going to do my best to make the change as easy as possible. I have discussed a lot of issues with Coach Mitchell so that I can make practice similar to the way that he did it." Luke quickly finished up speaking and began running drills. He soon discovered that the team was in as good a shape as he had assumed they were.

Practice ran as smooth as he could have hoped for. Most of the team bonded quickly with their new coach, excited to have someone newer and closer to their age to work with.

When Luke exited the gym later that afternoon, he couldn't be more satisfied with the results of his first practice. He walked out the back doors of the school and welcomed the cool breeze. It brushed against his sweaty forehead and he closed his eyes and to enjoy the feeling.

When his eyes fluttered back open he caught sight of a figure running on the track. Curiosity nagged at him and he walked in that direction.

Luke watched as the person practically sped around the track, their movements so swift and smooth that they almost could've been flying.

When they came closer, he realized that it was a female and he was even more impressed by their speed.

From where he was standing, he could tell that the girl's head was down as she ran and she seemed completely concentrated, not even listening to music as he had seen so many teens do while running.

He continued to study her movements and, as if sensing she was being watched, she looked up. When here eyes caught on him, she abruptly stopped running and took a step back. Luke's eyebrows furrowed at her nervous action. Was she scared at him?

Hesitantly he lifted his hand and waved at her. But she just stood there as if her feet were glued to the gravel that she stood on. Her eyes watched his every movement cautiously.

Seeing how frightened she seemed by him, he almost turned and walked back to his car, not wanting to scare her anymore. But his curiosity stopped him from doing so.

Carefully, he began to walk towards her. She stepped back again, her eyes having that "deer in the headlights" look.

Stopping a few feet away from her, he offered a small smile. "Hi."

She studied him for a second, her eyes keeping the frightened look. "Uh….hi," she greeted, her voice quavering uncertainly.

Luke frowned slightly. Was he really that scary? "Sorry if I scared you, I just couldn't help but notice how good you look when you're running."

She tensed visibly and took yet another step away from him.

Realizing what his words could've sounded like, he quickly explained. "I mean, you're really fast and your movements are so smooth. Do you run track?"

She relaxed a little at his words and she shook her head. "No, I don't care to."

Luke wanted to ask her why, but didn't really think that it was much of his business. He had run track during his time in high school, but only received a basketball scholarship since he was better at it.

He studied the girl's profile. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail that hung down over her shoulder and she wore a T-shirt and some wind pants that were similar to his own. Her light blue colored eyes were so piercing that they were hard to miss. But he wondered why they were so filled with fear as they studied him.

"I should probably introduce myself. I'm Luke Danes, the new coach for the basketball team." Holding his smile in place, he offered his hand, not really sure if she would even take it.

He could tell that she was reluctant to do so, but she did briefly clasp his hand in her own, shaking it timidly.

Luke felt the trembling that shook her small hand like a baby might shake a rattle and he frowned. What was wrong with the poor girl?

"Lorelai Gilmore," she offered quietly after pulling her hand away. "I'm a senior here."

"Nice to meet you, Lorelai."

"Likewise," Lorelai replied, but Luke could tell that she had hardly enjoyed meeting him.

Lorelai pulled her hand from the man's grasp and dropped it to her side. When she had shook Luke's hand something had told her that he meant no harm. But Lorelai rarely trusted anyone or anything, even her own instincts.

She couldn't help but notice how handsome the guy was though. He stood about six feet tall and his long dark chocolate hair seemed to compliment his soft bluish gray eyes. Those same eyes held a concern as they looked at her. That concern both surprised and pleased Lorelai. Not many people ever seemed to worry about her, especially people that she barely knew. Without even thinking about it, she allowed a smile to appear on her face and she shocked herself by walking a little closer to him. "You said you took over for Coach Mitchell?" she asked, not wanting to see the guy leave just yet. There was something about him that put her at ease and no man had ever been able to do that to her. Well, at least not in the last three months.

Luke's eyes lit up as if he was delighted to talk about his new position. "Yeah, I just started today. I have to say that I'm impressed by the guys in this school."

Lorelai sighed. Maybe he was nice, but he must have poor judgment if he was impressed by the teenage boys at the school. Well, maybe the guys on the basketball team weren't like Christopher Hayden, but still most of them had been cruel to her along with almost everyone else in the school.

When she didn't say anything in reply to him, Luke changed the subject. "Do you mind me asking why you're running at the track two hours after school has let out?"

His tone wasn't an accusatory one, just curious and she quickly explained. "My friend, Gwen, and I do tutoring over at the middle school everyday," she motioned towards the middle school building that was adjoined to the high school, "and then I come over here and run after we're done."

Luke's easy smile tugged at her heart in a surprising way and she quickly looked away.

"Do you play any sports?"

Lorelai felt herself tense and from the slight wince Luke made she could tell that he knew that his question had hit a spot that he hadn't wanted to hit. She merely shook her head and said, "No. I used to cheerlead, but I don't anymore." She made sure that her tone told him that that was a matter she wasn't interested in discussing.

He glanced at his watch, before looking back up at her. "I'm sorry, but I've got to run. I've got classes at six o'clock."

"Classes?"

"Yeah, I'm a Culinary student," he replied, clearly proud of his choice in career study.

She had to admit that she admired him for his choice. It showed her that he was a good cook which she loved to see in a guy. "Wow. That's great. I couldn't cook if my life depended on it."

"I'm sure your not that bad, I could teach you how to cook something sometime if you'd like," Luke announced, his smile widening, which Lorelai was beginning to love to see him do.

Lorelai laughed shaking her head. "If you could trust me enough to not burn down the kitchen." Lorelai joked. Luke smirked not believing she was that terrible.

Lorelai and Luke finished their conversation and she watched him walk back to his car, almost sorry that the conversation had to end. It had seemed like forever since the last time she had been able to talk to a man without being afraid of him. And Lorelai sincerely hoped that that wouldn't be the last time she spoke to Luke Danes.

* * *

Review please and tell me what you think.


	2. Barbies

**Some Changes I made for the plot of the story:**

**Luke has a brother rather then a sister. Both of his parents are still alive.**

* * *

Lorelai turned the door handle and pushed her weight forward, opening the front door of her two-story house. The interior of the place screamed elegance all the way from the fancy futon to the glamorous chandelier. She had lived like this all her life. And it hadn't taken her long to wish that she had had her parents instead of every single Barbie doll that she had laid eyes on.

Her parents were in charge of a big company and were frequently away on business trips. A good many of her meals had either been eaten alone or with a nanny because her parents were always away for work.

She often wondered why they had even decided to have a kid when they knew they would often be too busy to care for it. Well, that is, she had wondered about it until one day she asked her dad. He had glanced at her as he turned the page of the newspaper and had said, "We weren't planning to have you, it was an accident." His words had just about broken her heart and she had hurried from the room before her father would see her tears. Richard Gilmore was known for being a tough guy and if he had seen her cry she would have been scolded mercilessly for it.

To that very day, Lorelai could still hear her father's words. _It was an accident._ And though they still broke her heart, she actually believed them, now more than ever.

Even a few months back when she had been scared to death to be alone in the big old house and had called them, begging them to come home, they hadn't been able to make time for their daughter.

Lorelai sighed and wandered into their spacious kitchen, a frown creasing her pretty face when she noticed a piece of paper resting on the counter. She slowly covered the distance between the note and herself.

Hesitantly, she allowed her eyes to scan the words written neatly on the paper. "Lorelai, your parents called around noon and said that they have extended their business trip for another two weeks. I thought I'd give you the heads up before you talked to them. Love, Hannah," she read aloud, her voice almost echoing in the large monster of a house.

Lorelai tried to ignore the way that her vision blurred. She wasn't going to cry. After all of the times they had done this, she should be used to it by now.

Quickly reading the note one more time, she tossed it into the trash. It was sweet of Hannah to warn her of her parents' not so great news.

Hannah, their housekeeper of fourteen years, had been more of a mother to Lorelai than her actual mother or any of her nannies had ever been. And for that, she would always be grateful of the elderly woman.

With a deep sigh, Lorelai jogged up the stairs that led to the second story. Her room was the first one on the right side. Though she had done everything she could to make the spacious room warm and cozy, every time she stepped inside, it was as if a cool breeze greeted her. A few times she had actually went to the window to make sure that it was closed all the way, but to her dismay and somewhat relief, it wasn't even open a crack.

She groaned and plopped down onto the bed. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Luke glanced over at his brother as he pulled the jug of milk from the fridge. Five years younger than him, Seth Danes was less than an inch shorter than Luke and shared his dark brown hair, but not his blue eyes. The twenty-two year old Danes brother had deep green eyes that reminded Luke of emeralds and made him wish that his own eyes were that color. After all, they did make the girls swoon, especially one girl in particular. Seth's wife.

Luke's gut twisted at the thought of the twenty-one year old female, telling himself not to allow the pain to enter his soul again. He had tried so hard not to resent Seth and Rachel for their feelings. They were both sweet people and it wasn't their fault that they fell in love.

Forcing a hearty smile, he filled his and Seth's glasses with the thick white liquid, before sitting in a chair across from his brother.

"How was your first day on the job?" Seth asked, oblivious to Luke's slightly sour thoughts.

Luke's smile became more genuine as he replayed his day. "Fine," he replied slowly. His thoughts drifted to the teenage girl that he had ran into that afternoon. For some reason his mind couldn't let the image of her clear blue eyes out of his head. They had seemed so full of terror and hurt, he couldn't help but wonder what had put those feelings there.

"What are you thinking about?"

Luke's head flew up and his eyes met his brother's gaze. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

Seth tilted his head and studied his brother some more, before answering, "You have that look on your face."

"What look?" Luke's eyebrows furrowed, not having a clue what the other man was talking about.

"Remember when we got lost in the woods when we were kids and I kept saying that we would never be able to find our way out, that we should just wait until somebody came looking for us?"

Luke nodded, the memory replaying in his head as his brother spoke. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, you wouldn't give up; you said that we could find our way home. And I still remember the expression on your face as you marched through those woods. It was a look of determination and eagerness. And that's the look that you're wearing now," Seth explained, his voice full of admiration for his older brother. "What I want to know is what thought made that look re-appear on your face?"

Luke's thoughts again drifted to Lorelai, the most possible reason why he would have that look on his face. She seemed so lost and even after only meeting her once, he felt like he should save her, like he should help her find her way back home as he had done for Seth those many years ago. But, how was he going to do that? He didn't even know her.

"So, are you going to tell me what's got you all determined?"

Luke considered sharing his thoughts with his brother, but for some reason he held back. "I honestly don't know. Maybe it's because a new job always brings determination."

Seth frowned, obviously realizing that his brother had something else on his mind, but he didn't push any further. "I guess that's true."

Suddenly a noise erupted from Seth's side of the table, playing the song, "I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world."

Seth blushed a deep red and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Rachel put that on there. I keep taking it off, but it seems like every single time I do, she just puts it back on," he quickly explained, embarrassment obvious in his expression.

Luke only half listened to Seth's conversation with his wife. Instead he thought of what Seth had said about the ring tone. A sad smile slowly pulled at the corners of his mouth. Rachel had always been like that; always playing tricks on people and being able to cheer you up even when you were in the sourest moods. He only hoped that his brother knew how lucky he was. But, glancing over at Seth as he spoke to his wife, there was no doubt in his mind. Seth knew what he had and he wasn't ever going to let her go. Well, lucky him.

Luke was happy for his brother, he just wished that he could get rid of that small piece of resentment that still resided in his heart.

* * *

Lorelai tossed her backpack into her car, before heading up to the track. She had had a nice study session with Carly, the middle school student she had been tutoring. Now, she was ready to do some running and forget about all of the troubles that had been resting on her shoulders for the past three months.

But, when she reached the track, she stopped dead in her tracks. There, running with a group of his friends, was Christopher Hayden.

Taking a step back, she was just about to turn and hurry away when he called her name. Her breath quickened and she started to jog back to her car.

Unfortunately, her movements weren't fast enough and she felt his rough hands catch her arm.

"Where are you heading in such a hurry, baby?" Chris inquired, the dangerous glint in his eye, scaring her more than if she was looking straight into the eye of a bear.

"Let go of me." Lorelai had meant for her tone to sound tough, demanding, but her voice had failed her incredibly and it came out as more of a whisper.

She looked over his shoulder and noticed that his friends were at the far end of the track, not even paying attention to the interaction between herself and Chris.

"What's wrong, baby? You don't miss me?" His hand tightened on her forearm and he jerked her towards him.

Lorelai felt herself beginning to shake. She tried to pull herself away, but his strength was no match for her trembling muscles. "Please leave me alone, Chris," she practically begged, water gathering in her eyes and clouding her vision.

"I thought that maybe you had changed your mind about me. I mean, every girl in this school wishes that I would come after them. But you…..you've got my attention and you don't want it?!" He gave a sly smile and his free hand snaked around her neck. "I find that a little hard to believe."

"W-Well, it's true. Now let me go right this minute," she ordered, her voice still quivering more than she'd like.

Chris let out a dry laugh. "Baby, I ain't goin no where until I convince you to change your mind."

Before Lorelai could get a word in he pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was hard and demanding and brought back memories that Lorelai had tried hard to bury the last few months.

Tears slipped from her eyes and she quickly made a decision to get out of the guy's arms. Lifting her leg, she brought a hard kick to his shin, causing him to jump away in pain. But, he still kept his grip on her arm.

"You want it to be that way?" Chris hissed, the anger in his voice mirroring the look in his eyes. "Fine, I can play that way too." With his free hand, he brought a loud smack across her face, throwing her head to one side.

Lorelai winced and reached up to touch her face. When she drew her hand back, there was blood on her finger.

Glancing towards the track and seeing his friends coming back around the track, he let go of her arm and started to walk back in that direction. "You may think that you've seen the last of me, Lorelai Gilmore, but you haven't. And maybe you never will." With that, he put a smile on his face and raced back to his group of friends.

Lorelai swallowed hard and ran towards the parking lot.

When she reached her car, her shoulders sagged and she sank to the ground. Safely unseen by Christopher and his friends, she began to sob. The pain that she had been sure was almost gone, returned with a hard kick. Well, more like a hard slap. Why couldn't he just let her go and move on?

Lorelai suddenly heard a sound on the gravel and she looked up to see a figure coming from the direction of the school. She stared at him for a minute, before she realized that it was the new basketball coach that she had spoken to the day before.

Not wanting to explain her appearance, she pushed herself to her feet and reached out to open the door. But, it was too late; Luke was already walking in her direction.

Brushing her hand across her face, she hoped that her face didn't look as tear stained as it felt. And only when she brought her hand away from her face, did she remember the injury on her face.

"Hey, I came out and saw you sitting over here. Are you okay?" His face was filled with concern and when he came closer, he noticed that her lip was bleeding at the corner. "What happened?" Luke reached out to touch her chin, so that he could get a better look at the injury, but Lorelai jumped back as if he had shot at her.

"I-It's nothing, please just leave me alone," she said, her voice barely audible and filled with fright.

"Lorelai, I won't hurt you, I just want to make sure that you're all right."

"I said that it's nothing. Now please just leave me alone." Lorelai was surprised to hear her voice raise into almost a shout as the words slipped from her mouth.

Luke frowned, but didn't show any signs of leaving. "Did someone do that to you?" he inquired, motioning towards her face.

Lorelai shook her head quickly, fear filling her blue colored eyes and causing her body to tense. "No," the one word reply, rushed from her mouth. "I-I was running and I tripped and fell."

If she honestly thought that he was going to believe her pitiful explanation and let this whole incident go, then she had better try again, because he wasn't going to give up on her. He was going to find out what was going on with the mysterious girl and he was going to help her, whether she liked it or not.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it. Review please.**


	3. Let's Play Ball

Lorelai frowned at her appearance in the mirror. The place on her lip where Christopher had hit her was quite swollen and had a bluish tint to it. There was no way that she would be able to cover it up with make-up.

Forgetting her lip for a few minutes, she pulled out her brush and ran it through her dark hair. The long chocolate colored locks were something that most people told her made her so attractive. Well, that along with her sky blue eyes. There were so many girls that said they envied her looks. But, if her looks were the reason for everything that Christopher had done to her, she'd gladly give them away. To her, nothing was worth the torture that she had received from the sickening guy.

A solemn tear slid down her cheek as all of the memories of Christopher resurfaced, playing in loops until it was madness in her head.

Lorelai put her hands on both sides of her head and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to erase it all. She just wanted it all to go away! Four months earlier everything had seemed so perfect, how could it have changed so fast?

She opened her eyes again and studied her image in the mirror. Her face no longer held any joy and she could barely even remember the last time that she had actually gave a genuine smile. Dark circles rested just below her long eyelashes and she could see that her eyes didn't carry the spark that so many people used to comment on.

She just didn't understand why someone would ever want to ruin anyone's life as much as Christopher had ruined hers. How could someone be so cruel?

Exiting the bathroom, she walked over to her bed and sat down at the end. The questions that had been nagging her since that first awful night crawled into her head. How had she been so naïve as to choose a boyfriend like Chris? How could she have not seen through his façade? Hadn't she always been dubbed the smart one out of her friends?

Lorelai heard a few pitter patters on the window and looked in that direction. She watched as the rain came down harder and harder until it was pounding on the roof like a herd of elephants.

The rain reminded her of that scary night three months earlier. It had started out quite like this one; her sitting in her room and the rain coming down. She had been excited for her date with Chris, not knowing how horrendous the night would turn out.

As she looked around her room, she began to recall everything about that night, even the fact that she had been planning to tell Chris that she loved him……….

_Flashback_

_Lorelai reached behind herself and quickly pulled up the zipper that attached to the deep red dress that she had bought with her own money especially for that night._

_Spinning in front of the mirror, she allowed a satisfied smile to spread across her face. The dress was perfect._

_She walked over to her dresser and slowly opened the box that held her "ruby red slippers", excited about wearing the beautiful shoes for the first time._

_Lorelai slowly fit her shoes onto her small feet before turning to look in the full length mirror one more time. She almost felt giddy over her date with her boyfriend tonight._

_Giving the most beautiful smile she could manage, she opened her mouth and practiced saying those three perfect little words. I love you._

_How she longed to say that to him and then hear the same words said back. But, she decided, if he didn't say it back, she would be patient; wait until he found his moment to say them._

_A knock suddenly sounded at her bedroom door and she quickly told the person to come in._

_Hannah's head appeared, a smile sweetening the features on her face. "Christopher is here, honey. I told him that I'd send you down."_

_Lorelai's heart leaped and she was sure that her returning smile spread from ear to ear. She quickly walked to the door and kissed the older woman's cheek. "Thanks, Hannah. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"_Okay. When you get home make sure you lock all of the doors and shut all the windows. I don't want anybody getting in when you're home alone."_

"_Don't worry, I'll make sure that everything is safe and secure," Lorelai replied, before rushing down to the first floor of the house._

_Chris was waiting for her by the front door and his head jerked in her direction as soon as he heard her shoes click against the granite flooring. The look in his eyes changed to something she hadn't seen before as they scanned her appearance._

"_Wow," he managed to say, "that dress is totally hot!"_

_Lorelai giggled at his remark and posed for him. "Why thank you, Mr. Hayden." She stepped in his direction and slid her hand into his. Chris was still looking at her weird, but she hurriedly brushed it off as her own imagination. "Are you ready?"_

_He nodded slowly. "Yup, more than ready actually."_

Lorelai shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. She refused to recall the rest of the night's events. Only now, as she recalled Chris's words, did she realize that his last sentence had had a double meaning. And not catching that meaning had cost her greatly; much more greatly than she could have ever imagined.

* * *

Luke grumbled under his breath as the lights flickered. This was no time for the electricity to go out. He had a big paper due the next day and he had to finish researching facts and typing it out. Therefore, he needed the computer and since he needed the computer he, of course, needed the electricity.

He quickly saved the Microsoft file he was working on, just in case, and was about to start typing again when the phone rang.

Sighing, he reluctantly reached for the ringing item and placed it against his ear. "Hello."

"Hello, Luke. It's nice to know that you do pick up your phone once in a while."

Luke recognized the voice instantly and sighed. "Hi, Mom." His mother was kind of halfway between Luke and his father and was constantly trying to mend the broken family. In his opinion, Amy Danes should just be happy that her sons were even still talking. After what had happened between them, you'd think that they'd be separated for good.

"I called to ask you if you're free next Friday night."

_Uh-oh, here it comes_, Luke thought, instantly biting his lip. "Why?"

"Well, your father will be off and Seth and Rachel are coming over for dinner. I thought you might like to join us."

Now why would Luke want to eat with his father, who pretty much hated him; his brother and his sister-in-law, who were the cause for his painful past; and his mother, who would never cease in her peacemaking attempts? That just sounded like a death wish to him. If only he had a reasonable excuse. Thinking quickly, he was about to make up something, when his mom spoke.

"Don't even think about it, Lucas William Danes. I don't want to hear any lies. If you have a good reason for not making the dinner, I'll manage to accept that, but I will not take any lies, young man."

"Mom, I wasn't going to-"

"Oh yes you were. Now do you have a good **reason** for not coming to dinner on Friday, or shall I expect to see you there?"

In Luke's opinion, he did have a good reason. He flat out didn't want to eat with them. But, he didn't want to tell his mother that. After all, she really wasn't the one who had done anything wrong. "Can I get back to you?"

"Only if you're not going to use the time to think up a very convincing lie that you know I'll fall for."

Luke sighed, hesitating slightly, before saying, "I promise that I won't make anything up. If I don't have anything going on that night, I'll tell you that you can set a plate for me. Okay?"

"All right," she paused for a minute and Luke knew she was considering something. "Luke, if there's someone that you might like to bring with you who would make the dinner a little more comfortable for you, then please feel free to do so."

"Okay, Mom," he replied, his voice softening as he realized that his mother did understand how hard it was for him to get along with his family.

They said their good-byes and Luke hung up. He already knew that he didn't have anything going on that evening, but he was really hoping that something would come up.

He placed his hands back on the keyboard and hadn't even typed two words when everything went black. Luke groaned and stood to search his house for a flashlight, knowing very well that he might not be able to find one that didn't have a dead battery.

He rummaged through his dark cupboards and drawers, but didn't find a working flashlight.

"Jeez, I really should keep at least one working flashlight," he said into the darkness, instantly annoyed at himself for not doing so.

After searching a few more places, he collapsed onto the living room couch with a sigh. The lightning outside flashed, lighting up the room for a split second. Luke watched the storm rage outside and felt his own emotional storm that still raged in his heart. Would he ever get over the events that had happened more than three years ago?

* * *

Lorelai pushed open the side door that led into the school. Before tutoring, she had put her book bag into her locker and had forgotten to retrieve it before running on the track.

Side-stepping the group of boys that must have just come from basketball practice, she headed towards her locker. The echo of a basketball still bouncing off of the gym floor sounded through the halls and Lorelai's eyebrows furrowed, she thought that practice was over.

After she had her backpack hanging over her shoulder, she decided to take a different way out to the parking lot, curious to see who was in the gym.

Glancing, through one of the windows that was built into the swinging doors, she saw the new basketball coach standing in the middle of the gym, a ball under one arm and a notebook in the other.

She watched as he tossed the notebook onto the floor and bounced the ball a few times, dodging invisible people, before running towards the hoop and making a perfect basket.

Obviously unaware of her eyes on him, he smiled to himself and tried the play again, before picking up the notebook to write something down.

Lorelai continued to stand there as he tried play after play, amazed at how easy the running and jumping came to him. He looked as if he was a pro basketball player.

She pushed the door open a crack so that she could get a better look, but it surprised her by making a squeaking noise. Luke's head snapped around and he noticed her standing there.

She blushed at being caught and quickly let go of the door, turning to hurry down the hall. She wanted to get away before he was able to catch her.

"Lorelai."

Too late. Taking a deep breath, she turned back around and saw him standing in the gym doorway, a friendly smile spread across his handsome face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, I just heard noise and noticed you in there as I was leaving and you're playing kind of caught my eye. I didn't mean to intrude, I just-"

Luke held up his hand in an attempt to stop her, his blue gray eyes turning shimmering blue as they sparkled with amusement. "Whoa, slow down. You didn't bother me at all. I was just writing down a few plays that I'm going to try at practice tomorrow."

"Oh." Lorelai dropped her head, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. When she managed to pull it back up, she realized that Luke had walked closer to her. Taken by surprise, she jumped back. The movement caused her to lose her balance and her arms flailed, trying to find something to grab onto.

Just as she thought she would hit the floor, she felt strong hands on her arm.

Lorelai should have thanked Luke for catching her, but she wasn't thinking straight. His hands only made her more frightened and she screamed, trying to jerk her arm from his grasp. "Let me go," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

Luke looked taken aback and he instantly released his hold on her. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."

As Lorelai stared at his hurt expression, she felt her heart coming back to a normal pace. "No, I-I'm sorry. You just took me by surprise, I overreacted." She tried to ignore the questioning look he gave her, but no matter which way she looked, she could feel his eyes following her face. He was obviously trying to read her mind.

Finally Luke nodded, but his brows were still knit together in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You should probably get back to work." Lorelai started to turn towards the door.

"Lorelai, wait."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, noticing how he hadn't reached out to try and stop her from leaving. Obviously he was a guy that was good at learning lessons the first time. "Yeah?"

He motioned towards the gym. "Have you ever played basketball?"

Lorelai felt her tense body starting to relax and she smiled slowly. "Just for fun. Why?"

"I thought you might want to play a little one-on-one."

"Are you kidding? Play against you? I wouldn't stand a chance." Lorelai's heart did a somersault as his lips lifted on the one side, making a half grin.

"I promise that I'll go easy on you," Luke said, giving her a little wink.

Lorelai was about to agree, but then her brain interfered. What was she doing? She shook her head. "I really should get home. I have to…." her voice trailed off as she realized that there wasn't anything at home that she had to do, not even someone waiting for her.

"You have to…..what?" Luke tilted his head and his eyes challenged her to agree to play with him.

She finally stepped forward, sticking her chin out to challenge him right back. "Fine. I'll admit it, I don't have anything to do, which means that I can't get out of this." She walked past him, heading towards the gym. "Let's play ball."

* * *

**Eh tell me what you think and review please.**


	4. Making Progress

**Thank you to those of you who reviewed.**

* * *

Lorelai pushed open the swinging doors that led to the kitchen, instantly inhaling the sweet smell of chocolate-chip pancakes. She smiled and scanned the room, expecting to find Hannah standing nearby, but the housekeeper was no where to be seen.

Putting a couple of the cooling cakes onto a plate, she poured herself a glass of milk and sat down at the table. As she began to dig in, she recalled her basketball game with Luke the day before. It had been a long time since she had had a good time, especially with a guy. But, things seemed to come more easily with him. She was just inches away from trusting the guy and that both scared her and enlightened her.

_Lorelai dribbled the ball up and down, trying to keep an eye on Luke as she moved towards the hoop. She knew that as soon as she thought she had it, he would appear out of nowhere and snatch the ball. Her feet moved one after another until she was only a couple feet away from the hoop. Glancing at Luke one more time, she pulled the ball into a position above her shoulder and gave it a push, causing it to fly through the air._

_Just as she thought it would fall into the net, a hand smacked it back down to the floor, making a loud "thud" as it hit the hardwood floor. Her jaw dropped and she aimed an incredulous stare in Luke's direction._

_He raised his eyebrows, attempting innocence, but failing completely. "What?"_

_She leaned over to pick up the ball. "I thought you were going to go easy on me."_

_Luke frowned, but a mischievous sparkle gleamed in his eyes. "Oh," the corners of his mouth started to turn upward and he knocked the ball out of her hands. "I must have forgotten." He grabbed the ball from where it had landed on the floor and sped towards the other end of the court. _

_Lorelai, not having enough time to react, just stood there watching as he scored himself a point by doing a slam dunk into the hoop. She shook her head in amusement. "Show off," she retorted, walking in his direction._

"_It's not my fault that basketball isn't your forte."_

_She rolled her eyes, a smile forming on her face, and reached towards the ball in his arms. "Well, then I guess you'll just have to teach me some of your moves."_

_Lorelai suddenly dropped her arms to her sides, her smile disappearing completely. Was she flirting with him? Just the thought of doing so, terrified her and she stepped away from Luke._

_Luke's smile also disappeared and his eyebrows knit together in concern. "What's wrong?"_

_She shook her head frantically. "Nothing. I just…..I don't think this was such a good idea." She turned and took another step in the direction of the door._

"_Please don't go, Lorelai," Luke said, his voice calm, but pleading at the same time. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong, I sure didn't mean to." _

_Lorelai stopped in her tracks, instantly feeling bad for making him feel guilty about something he didn't do. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "You didn't do anything wrong." She almost added, "I did", but bit her tongue, not wanting to elaborate on that._

_Luke smiled again. "Then please stay. I promise I'll go easy on you."_

"_I seem to recall you making that promise before," she paused, "And I also recall that you didn't keep it," the amusement in her voice told Luke that she was teasing him._

"_Okay," he held out his hand, pinky finger up. "I pinky swear."_

_Lorelai heard someone laugh and was surprised to realize that it had been herself, she hasn't been able to laugh in quite some time. "Pinky swear? How old are you, five?"_

_Luke chuckled, but kept his finger out. "Hey, don't make fun of the pinky swear. I still know how important its meaning is." _

_Lorelai shook her head and, to her surprise, wrapped her finger around his. "Fine. Since you're pinky swearing, I guess I'll stay."_

_Luke nodded, dropping his hand to his side. "Good. Now let's play ball."_

The sudden feeling of somebody watching her brought Lorelai back to the present and she glanced up. Hannah was standing in the doorway, a sweet smile spread across her elderly face. "How long have you been standing there?"

Hannah walked over to the table, sitting across from Lorelai. "Oh not too long." She touched Lorelai's hand gently. "But, long enough to realize that you seemed content. It's been a long time since I've seen you daydreaming, sweetheart."

"I wasn't exactly daydreaming, just thinking," Lorelai explained.

"Well, whatever you were thinking about seemed to be making you pretty happy." Hannah's eyes watered. "It's so nice to be seeing you in such a good mood. I hope that whatever is making you happy lasts. You deserve to enjoy life again."

Lorelai smiled and squeezed the older woman's hand. "Thanks, Hannah. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You're a sweet girl, Lorelai; it's been my pleasure to take care of you all these years."

With that Hannah stood and walked towards the door, her movements showing Lorelai that she wasn't as young as she once was.

She sighed, hoping that she'd still have a lot more years with the housekeeper who had been like her mother for most of her life.

Glancing at the clock, she hurried to finish her food. The "daydreaming" and the talk with Hannah had taken up some of her breakfast time, which gave her only a few minutes to eat before she had to go upstairs to get ready for school.

An hour later she was opening one of the side doors that led into the school. She didn't like to go in through the front door, because there was a lot more people than she was comfortable being around.

As she passed the gym, her feet came to a stop. She wondered if she would see Luke again today. Part of her was hoping that their paths would meet, but the other part didn't want to see him again. Not because she didn't like being around him, but because she was scared to death of what might happen if she continued to be around him.

"Lorelai."

When she heard her name called she looked up to see Gwen standing at the end of the hall.

Gwen walked in her direction, book bag slung over her shoulder. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Lorelai realized that she had been staring at the gym doors and she felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "Nothing. I, uh, I was just thinking I guess."

"Missing your old days as a cheerleader?" Gwen's voice was quiet, afraid that the question might bring more sadness to her best friend.

"Actually, no." she paused, considering telling her best friend about Luke, but then deciding against it. She didn't want Gwen getting the wrong idea. "You know what, Gwen?"

"What?"

"Even though I'm scared to death to be around people, especially guys, I feel like I'm better off without the cheerleading and the snobby friends. You know what I mean?"

Gwen smiled. "Is that compliment towards me?"

"You could take it as one, yes," Lorelai replied, matching Gwen's smile.

"Than thank you, Lorelai. I'm really glad that we're friends now."

Lorelai nodded and commanded her feet to being their walk down the hall. "Me too, Gwen. Me too."

* * *

Luke pushed open the door to his office and sat down at his mahogany colored desk. Though he had brought some things from home, the small office still seemed rather bare. He wasn't sure what else he could do to fill it up more. He wasn't allowed to paint it, or put any extra nails in the wall, which meant that he couldn't hang more pictures than there were nails.

Sighing at his discontent for the room, he tried to get to work on some papers that he, as the coach, had to do. But, his mind kept drifting. He couldn't stop thinking about Lorelai. He was beginning to second guess himself about getting to know the girl. If he got too attached it could cause serious problems not only with his job, but with his heart. He should know, it had happened to him before with a girl just about the same age. Sure they were different situations, but they could end up having the same results and that worried him.

On the other hand, Luke was afraid what would happen with Lorelai if he didn't help her. Would she ever come out of her shell?

Frustrated with himself for not being able to figure this out, he pushed himself to his feet. It was only about forty minutes until practice started and he wasn't getting any of his papers done, so he figured that he might as well head over to the gym.

Later that afternoon, Luke waved off the last player on his team and turned to pick up his gym bag. Trying to ignore the disappointment when he didn't find Lorelai standing by the door, he slowly made his way outside. Had he actually expected to find her waiting for him? Shaking his head, he tossed his bag into the passenger's side of his car.

Just as he reached for the handle on his driver's side door, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw a familiar scene.

Lorelai's long ponytail bounced back and forth as she ran around the track. Like the last time that he had saw her running, her head was straight forward in concentration.

Luke hesitated, he knew that he shouldn't stop and talk to her, especially because he hadn't completely decided what he was going to do. Right now he needed to think and talking to Lorelai again wouldn't help him accomplish that.

He pulled open the car door and put one foot inside. But, he made the mistake of glancing at the teenager again. She caught sight of him and had lifted her hand in a wave.

Knowing that he would feel guilty if he ignored the greeting and drove away, he shut his door again and walked in her direction.

As soon as he saw the wobbly smile on the younger girl's face, all of his doubts were somehow erased from his mind and he gave her a smile in return. "Hi," he greeted.

Obviously second guessing herself about waving at him, she took a step back. "Uh….hey," she finally replied, her voice so soft that Luke had to lean forward to hear her.

He motioned towards the track. "How's the running going?"

"Good……I guess. H-how was practice?"

Luke noticed the slight quaver in her voice and gave her a reassuring smile. "Great. I'm looking forward to our first game."

"When is it?"

"In a little over two weeks." He paused then slowly shrugged his shoulders. "You know, we could use another player. After seeing how well you played yesterday, I think you would be the perfect person for the job."

This brought a genuine smile from the girl and she raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you and I both know that that isn't true."

"You underestimate yourself. I believe that you could do anything that you put your mind to."

Lorelai's smile fell, but she didn't seem to be unhappy, just thoughtful. "Why would you say that, Luke? You barely know me."

"You just strike me as that kind of person. You spend a couple hours tutoring each day, you run everyday with more concentration then I could even muster, you just……you just seem like a strong girl."

Lorelai shook her head quickly, tearing her eyes away from his face. "Well, I'm not, Luke. I'm not strong. I never have been and I never will be," her voice broke on her last sentence and she quickly turned and ran down the track.

Luke watched her for a minute and then made a quick decision. A moment later he was running in step with her.

Lorelai noticed his presence, but didn't stop or look in her direction.

After a few minutes, her pace quickened. At first Luke thought that she was trying to get away from him, but when she glanced over her shoulder at him, he realized that she was challenging him, racing him.

Grinning, he sped up, trying to match her pace. But, the whole way around the track, he remained one step behind.

When she slowed to a stop, there was a smile lighting up her face. "I hope you aren't one of those guys who cries when he gets beat by a girl."

Luke bent over, catching his breath. "Tease all you want, but I'll catch you next time. Just you wait and see."

Lorelai looked almost hopeful as she said, "Next time?"

"Don't you ever get lonely running out here all by yourself?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Maybe. But, aren't you at all tired after practice?"

He stepped in the direction of his car. "Kind of, but I'll manage." He winked at her and pulled his keys from his pants pocket. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

Luke noticed her hesitate for a long moment, but she finally gave him a slow nod.

"Yeah, tomorrow." She suddenly turned on her heel and began another lap around the track.

Luke watched her for a moment and then walked over to his car. He was finally making some progress, but was that a good thing or a bad thing?

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed. Review please.**


	5. Feelings Show

By the time Saturday rolled around, Lorelai surprised herself by wishing that the week didn't have to end. She had really enjoyed running every afternoon with Luke and was afraid that the weekend might break the spell. Either her brain would go into overdrive and tell her that getting close to Luke wasn't a good thing, or Luke just might not show up on Monday afternoon. Either way, Lorelai dreaded spending the whole weekend thinking about it.

Sighing, she pushed her comforter off of her legs and swung her feet over the side of the bed.

Outside the leaves whistled in the spring breeze, reminding Lorelai that it was only a couple months until she was free. No more crowded school halls, no more unwanted teasing, and no more Christopher. She hoped that after graduation she could leave her high school days behind her and move on. But, there was one thing that might not let her forget these things; one thing that she feared would plague her for the rest of her life, keeping her unhappy and alone. And that thing was her nightmares. The frightening and horrifying dreams that visited Lorelai almost every night caused her to wake up shaking, screaming, and dripping with sweat. As she sat alone in her quiet bedroom, in a house filled only with herself and the extravagant furniture and possessions that her parents consumed, she'd cry until she made herself sick. And she didn't cry just because of the scary nightmares that wouldn't leave her alone, but because of the fact that she had no one that was willing to comfort her, take away all of her fears. Sure Hannah tried to be there for Lorelai when she could, but the elderly woman had a family of her own and could not be there every time that she needed her. Would Lorelai ever have someone who truly cared about her, who really loved her?

Lorelai felt a hot tear stream down her face and she didn't bother to brush it away. Her parents and Christopher had given love a bad name in Lorelai's eyes. They had claimed to love her, claimed that they would do whatever they could for her, but then they had all just broken her heart and scattered the pieces. Some days Lorelai felt as though she would always be alone. Because of what those people had done, she knew that there might always be a part of her that would never completely trust anyone, not even Gwen. The girl had been nothing but nice to her since that first awful day, but Lorelai couldn't bring herself to _completely_ trust her friend. She had had "true" friends before, but they had all betrayed her trust when they had chosen popularity over honesty. How anyone could do that and live with themselves was beyond her, but they had. They'd gotten on their high horses and ridden off, leaving their "friend" in the dust.

The phone rang, causing Lorelai to jump. She shook her head, trying to erase her thoughts, and reached for the phone that sat on her beside table.

"Hello?" she said, realizing how sleepy she must sound.

"Hey, Lorelai, did I wake you?"

Lorelai stifled a yawn and got to her feet. "Hi, Gwen. No, you didn't wake me. I was just getting up."

"Sorry. I forget that most normal people like to sleep in on the weekends. I should have waited a little longer to call."

The word "normal" stuck in Lorelai's mind. She wasn't normal. There were so many things about her that made her quite unlike all of the other people her age. She resented the fact that everyone else could go to school everyday and enjoy themselves. They could hang out with one another freely, while her fears kept her from doing so. Some times she did want to ask why this had had to happen to her.

"Lorelai? Are you still there?" Gwen's voice was unsure and Lorelai guessed that her friend probably thought she had fallen asleep.

"Yeah, I'm here, just thinking," she admitted, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"Oh, okay." Gwen paused. "Hey, I was wondering; my sister is graduating from college this week and I really should get a present for her. Would you like to come to the mall with me? I hate shopping alone."

Lorelai swallowed hard. She hadn't gone to the mall once in the last few months. Too many intimidating people, too much crowd. "I-I don't know, Gwen. I'm a little nervous about being around so many people."

Gwen hesitated, sounding unsure to give her opinion, but she finally spoke. "Lorelai, I know you're scared, but you manage at school. I know that you're strong enough to handle the mall. Besides, I'll be right there with you."

Lorelai knew that Gwen was right and she couldn't deny her friend this one little request, so she reluctantly agreed. They decided that Gwen would pick Lorelai up at one o'clock, giving her enough time to get ready. And enough time to try and calm down her nerves, she wouldn't give into this fear.

* * *

Luke growled as his doorbell sang a way too enthusiastic song. Whoever the person leaning on the doorbell, he was going to give them a piece of his mind. No one woke him up this early on a Saturday morning.

Giving a deep sigh, he sat up and glanced at the clock. His eyes quickly widened. Noon? It was twelve o'clock? He couldn't even remember the last time that he had slept that late.

Hurriedly throwing the blankets off of his body, he rushed to make it to the front door before the visitor gave up and left. He almost pulled the door off of its hinges in trying to get it open in time and then relaxed when he realized who the visitor was.

"Gosh, bro, did you just get up?" Seth asked, raising one eyebrow like Luke often did when scrutinizing somebody.

Luke shrugged, teasingly glaring at his little brother. "Maybe. What are you gonna do about it?"

Seth's grin spread across his face and he shook his head. "I haven't heard you talk like that since we were kids." His smile faltered a little as he added, "We've grown up."

Luke knew that his brother was thinking of all of the events that had forced them both to grow up. Luke also knew that these events had torn him and Seth apart. He often wondered if they would ever share that close bond that they used to. Sighing he said, "Yeah, we have."

There was an uncomfortable silence, before Luke straightened and motioned into the house. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, yeah." Seth's smile returned and he stepped in through the doorway. "I did actually come here for a reason."

"And what would that be?"

Seth shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought that maybe I could treat my older brother to lunch."

Luke grew suspicious, his eyes narrowing. "And?"

"And what?" Seth acted surprised. "Can't I just take you out for a simple meal?"

Luke raised one eyebrow like his brother had done. "Seth?"

"Fine." Seth rolled his eyes dramatically. "There might be one other thing I want you to help me with."

"And that would be?"

Seth hesitated and then practically spit out his next words. "I need help picking out a birthday present for dad."

Luke frowned. "Birthday present?"

"Yeah, dad's birthday is a week from today. That's why mom invited us all over for dinner." Seth studied his brother. "Don't tell me that you forgot it was his birthday."

"Mom didn't say anything about it."

"First of all, she shouldn't have to say anything about it, you should just remember. And second of all, she probably knows that you wouldn't come to an event celebrating our father, so she didn't bring it up," Seth said, his tone showing that he disapproved of the strain between son and father.

Luke felt as though he had been slapped. Is that really how Seth thought that he felt? "Seth, that's not true and you know it. I don't hate dad that much. Besides, I'm not the one who started this separation. Dad practically cut me off after I didn't do what he wished. How can you even defend him?"

Seth sighed and leaned against the wall. "Look, Luke, I didn't come here to fight. I'm desperately trying not to take sides in this, so please don't make it sound like I should choose between you."

Luke watched hurricane of emotions cross his brother's face and he felt guilty. He really shouldn't make Seth feel like he had to choose. He'd done that kind of thing once before and he had come up with the short straw. "You're right, Seth, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just…." his voice trailed off and he shook his head. "Let's just forget it." He pulled his weight off of the wall and stepped in his brother's direction. "So, will you help me with the present? I'm at a loss of what to get."

Luke nodded slowly. "I don't know if I'll be much help, but I'll try." He began walking towards his bedroom. "Just let me clean up. I'll be ready in about half an hour." As he started down the hall, he glanced over his shoulder. "Make yourself at home."

* * *

Lorelai scanned the store. So far, so good. Since the second she and Gwen had entered the mall, Lorelai had felt her heartbeat speed up, but she hadn't given into her panic yet. And if it was up to her, she wouldn't give in at all. She'd been fighting against her nerves and right now she seemed to be winning. Smiling to herself, she followed Gwen into the big hall. But, as Gwen pointed to the next store, Lorelai froze, her smile fading. Inside, Christopher and his "posse" stood.

She felt herself beginning to tremble and she knew she had to get out of there before he saw her. "I-I can't go in there, Gwen."

Gwen followed Lorelai's gaze and her eyes locked on the group. "Oh, great," she mumbled under her breath. "Let's just go."

Lorelai didn't want to stop Gwen from getting a present for her sister, so she quickly said, "Why don't I go sit around the corner? I'm sure they won't go over there, so I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Gwen's eyebrows furrowed with doubt.

Lorelai nodded hurriedly. "Yes. Hardly anyone goes in that corner of the mall, so there's nothing to worry about."

"All right." She bit her lip. "If you're sure…."

"I'm sure, Gwen. Now go," she encouraged, giving her friend a small push before walking in the direction that she had indicated.

Lorelai found a few benches and quickly took a place on one of them, glad to be sitting for the first time in the last couple hours. But, the quiet didn't last long. She soon heard footsteps and looked up to find Christopher coming in her direction. She knew that he must have seen her come that way, but now she didn't really have a way to get away from him.

Feeling trapped, she got to her feet and took a step in the other direction.

Christopher chuckled at the action and held out his arms. "What's the matter, babe? Scared?"

Lorelai hid her hands behind her back, trying to keep Christopher from seeing the tremble that shook them. She couldn't allow him to know that he scared her so much. He would just use it to his advantage. "How did you know I was back here?"

"Does it matter?"

Lorelai took a step forward, wanting to just ignore him and walk away, but unfortunately it wasn't that easy. Christopher grabbed her arm as she tried to pass, bringing his mouth close to her ear.

"Now where do you think you're going?" he whispered dangerously. "I thought that we might go for a little ride."

Lorelai couldn't hide her trembles now and she felt her heartbeat speed up. Where was Gwen?

Gwen. That was it. Using her free hand, she reached into her purse, trying to find the thing that Gwen had given her earlier.

Relief washed through Lorelai as her fingers closed around the cool can. She tried to pull it out of her purse without Christopher noticing, but there was no such luck.

"What are you doing?" he growled, his eyes glancing toward her hand. "What is that?"

Lorelai pulled her hand up quickly and sprayed the mace in the direction of Christopher's face. Unfortunately he saw the movement and jumped out of the way.

Though it hadn't worked the way that she had wanted to, he still let her go. Taking advantage of the free moment, she raced down the empty hall, desperately trying to get back to the crowd before he caught her.

Luke chuckled as Seth slurped down the rest of his drink, making a loud noise. "You sound like a little kid," he scolded playfully.

"I know I'm getting up there in age, but I can still act like a little kid."

Luke shook his head. "Seth, you're only twenty-three. I would hardly call that old. Yeah, you're already married and already have a good job and a good house, but those things don't make you old."

"You're right. You're not old until you get too busy to have some fun." Seth sent a knowing glance in Luke's direction.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, bro, when was the last time you got together with some buddies and played ball? And better yet, when was the last time you went on a date?" As soon as the latter question escaped his mouth, Seth winced, obviously realizing his mistake. Dates and woman was a sore subject between them.

Luke knew that his brother hadn't meant any harm by his question, so he decided to humor him. "A year and a half," he admitted, smiling as though it was an accomplishment.

Seth hesitated before giving Luke a half smile. "Wow, that's longer than I thought it was." He paused, studying his brother's expression. "Do you have an eye on anyone?"

Luke kept walking, not really wanting to answer that question. As he came to the place where two of the halls met, someone rushed around the corner, just about knocking him over.

"Sorry," came a small, but familiar voice.

Luke looked down and saw the frightened and tearstained face of Lorelai Gilmore. "Lorelai? Are you okay?" He saw relief wash across the young girl's face as she looked up at him.

"Luke," she whispered, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

Lorelai shook like a leaf, causing Luke to wonder what had happened. She glanced over her shoulder and let out a sigh as she studied the nearly empty hall.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, putting his hands on her shoulders and stepping away from the crowd of people.

She brushed the tears from her face. "Yes…I mean, no…..well, I don't know," she stuttered, obviously still scared out of her wits.

"Calm down, Lorelai, everything's okay now." He couldn't help himself from brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "What happened?"

More tears fell as she again looked around. "I….he…I-I thought that he was going to-" She stopped abruptly and wiped the back of her hand across her face. "I-It was nothing. I just overreacted about s-something."

"That didn't seem like nothing."

Luke had almost forgotten about his brother's presence, until he spoke. He glanced over at Seth and noticed the confusion that clouded his face. He would have some explaining to do, but right now he had to deal with Lorelai.

Lorelai followed his gaze to Seth and frowned, instantly cowering behind Luke.

Luke gave his brother a half smile. "Give me a sec," he said before putting his hand in the small of Lorelai's back and walking a couple feet away. "You can trust me, Lorelai. What happened?"

She shook her head. "I-I can't, Luke, I just can't." She stepped away slowly. "I-I really have to go find Gwen."

Before Luke could say anymore, she hurried away, not even giving him a second glance. He sighed and walked back over to his brother.

"I guess that answers my earlier question," Seth said, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "I asked you if you had an eye on anyone and the answer to that just fell in my lap. Kind of ironic, huh?"

"Seth, you don't know what you're talking about. Lorelai's just a friend," Luke explained quickly, not wanting his brother to get the wrong idea even if it was the right one.

"Don't lie to me, bro, I saw the way you looked at that girl. You definitely have more than friendly feelings for her."

Luke panicked. He couldn't have feelings for Lorelai. It would destroy his chance at keeping his job and it might even cause destruction in his heart.

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**Thanks to those of you who've reviewed. Review Please.**


	6. Drink Up

Lorelai felt disappointment and relief as she opened the door that led outside. A group of raindrops greeted her by splashing her dark hair with water and sinking into the gray cloth of her sweatshirt. On one hand she was thankful for the rain, not sure if she was ready to talk to Luke after what had happened on Saturday. On the other hand though, running was something that seemed to free her of all her troubles and make her feel as though no fear could ever catch her.

As she reached her small car, the rain began to come down even harder and she hurried to unlock the door. Tossing her book bag into the back seat, she was about to sit in the driver's seat when something caught her eye. Luke? A figure about his height and build was just coming around one of the turns in the track. Why would Luke be running in the rain? She tried to just ignore it and get into her car, but guilt nagged at her and pulled her away from the vehicle and toward the track.

When Luke saw her heading in his direction, he quickened his pace and met her partway. He gave her a warm smile that gave her butterflies she would have rather ignored, but couldn't seem to do so. Managing a half smile, she asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"I was waiting for you," Luke replied simply.

She tilted her head at him, studying his soaked state. His wild hair clung to the top of his forehead as the water ran down his face, grabbing at his eyelashes and sliding down his nose. Lorelai's eyes drifted lower and she couldn't help but notice how his white T-shirt stuck to his muscular chest. Quickly shaking her head, she brought her eyes back to his face, trying to put a sentence together. "But," she started, "it's pouring down rain." She wanted to smack herself for pointing out the obvious, but she couldn't come up with anything else to say.

"You afraid of a little water, Miss Gilmore?"

She stuck out her chin in defiance and narrowed her eyes. "Of course not, I just prefer to keep dry. And I also prefer not to be called 'Miss Gilmore". It makes me feel like a teacher."

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "And that means what? That it makes you feel old? Cause I could take offense to that."

Lorelai noticed the amusement in his eyes and immediately realized that he was kidding with her. "You're not a teacher, you're a coach," she pointed out.

"Which is almost the same thing. A coach _teaches _sports."

She considered that, trying to think of a way to take her foot out of her mouth. "Okay. I rest my case. But I didn't mean to say that you're old." She paused, trying to guess his age. "How old are you anyway?"

He almost said, _too old for you_, but then caught himself. That wasn't why she had asked and Luke knew he shouldn't even be thinking of Lorelai in that kind of way. She was a student, he was a coach. There could never be more between them then friendship. His job depended on that.

Trying to keep the lighthearted mood, he said, "You are aware that while you're trying to conduct a conversation we're both getting soaked to the bone."

"Hey, I was planning to go home and study in my warm, dry house. You're the one who insists that we stay out here in the rain." She smiled. "And you're avoiding the question, mister. You can't be that old. Now quit trying to change the subject and answer my question."

The left side of Luke's mouth lifted in a half smile. "And what question was that?"

"Luke-"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm twenty-seven. Happy now?"

Lorelai _was _pleased with herself for getting the answer out of him. "Twenty-seven isn't a bad age. Why do you sound so ashamed of it?"

Because if I was younger than I would have never gotten my heart broken. That's what Luke wanted to say, but instead he again bit his tongue. There was no reason to drag Lorelai through his horrible past. He didn't even know why he was trying to carry her through his present.

Covering his sigh, he merely shrugged. "Sometimes I just wish I was younger." And with that he turned and jogged back to the track. It wasn't long before he heard Lorelai behind him, quickly matching his pace.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she said, her glance sliding up to his face.

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that's got you so upset."

Luke was surprised. How had she read him so well? He was usually so good at masking his feelings. Not even his family was able to guess the things that were going through his mind. How had this girl that he barely knew seen through his façade?

"Did," Lorelai hesitated, "did I say something wrong?"

Luke stopped short, turning to face his young companion. "It's nothing, Lorelai. Really."

She frowned, turning her face away from his. "I did. I'm sorry."

Luke's hands instinctively went to her shoulders. "Lorelai, it wasn't you. I just…..it's a long story. One that isn't very pleasant. I wouldn't want to add to your worries."

"_Add _to my worries?" she repeated slowly.

Luke dropped his hands from her shoulders and looked away. "I wasn't going to say anything about Saturday, but-" he stopped short. "Do you think we could go somewhere dry and talk?"

Lorelai didn't want to talk about Saturday. She didn't want to tell Luke about Chris or anything that might bring all of her pain to the surface. But for some reason, she found herself nodding. "Okay," she said softly.

Luke gave her an easy smile. "Good." As they began to walk back to the parking lot he said, "I've got hot cocoa at my apartment." Lorelai looked hesitant and Luke wondered how that might sound to her. He was, after all, inviting her to the place where he lived. Deep down he knew that he shouldn't be doing this. If he was caught with her at his house, he could get fired. But for some reason, he didn't care at that moment. When he was with Lorelai he felt as though he could talk about anything. He felt relaxed and……happy.

"That _does_ sound good." Lorelai said finally. Her head told her that it wasn't a good idea, but her heart couldn't help but trust the man.

"It's settled then." He took a step in the direction of his car. "You can follow me over."

Lorelai nodded and not more than fifteen minutes later, she was pulling into his driveway. From the outside the side-by-side duplex looked like a cozy little house. The dark brick that was the exterior of the building gave off a warm feeling, welcoming Lorelai. She smiled as Luke emerged from his car and hurried over to her, opening the driver's side door so that she could get out. What a gentlemen. "Thank you," she murmured, following him towards the left side of the duplex. Luke opened the door and allowed her to go inside, before he quickly followed. The interior was just as Lorelai expected it to be; cozy, but obviously being lived in by a bachelor. The first room was the living room. There was an "L" shaped a couch, a TV, and a coffee table, but no pictures or decoration. Proof that it was a man's home.

Luke motioned to the book bag that she held. "Do you have clothes to change into?"

"Yeah." She unzipped her bag and pulled out a pair of blue and green striped twill shorts along with a white tank top from the bag.

Luke pointed down the hall to the right. "The bathroom is the first door on the right. I'm going to change and then I'll be in the kitchen, which is just through there," he then motioned to a doorway straight ahead.

"Okay, thanks." She gave him a small smile before walking to the bathroom and closing the door. Turning around, Lorelai felt like laughing. Four scenic pictures were framed and hung on each of the four walls, a glass bowl of potpourri rested on one side of the sink, the dark walls were painted with what appeared to be great care, and the decorative shower curtain matched the plaid towels and the rug that was laid right outside the tub. Lorelai couldn't help but wonder why Luke's bathroom was more decorated than the living room. She was sure that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation, but for now she was enjoying the laugh that this gave her.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she headed into the direction that Luke had referred to. Another fit of laughter begged to be released when she saw that his kitchen didn't have any more decorations than the living room did.

Luke glanced up when he heard footsteps on the tiled floor. He couldn't help but to give Lorelai a once over. He caught sight of how much her shorts did not cover up and swallowed hard noticing the small tank top showed off just as much skin as the shorts. He would've stayed staring longer if it wasn't for the amused expression on her face that caused his eyebrows to furrow curiously. "What?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to speak, but a small giggle escaped instead. Luke grinned at the sound of it. He found himself hoping that she would do it again, but to his dismay, she managed to gain control of her laughter.

After a deep breath, she met his gaze and said, "Please tell me that you have a good explanation as to why your bathroom is far more decorated than your living room or your kitchen. I keep telling myself that it isn't because it's your favorite place in the house, but my mind can't seem to come up with a better reason."

Luke chuckled, slightly embarrassed that she had noticed that little fact. The bathroom certainly wasn't his favorite place in the house. "Well, when I moved in here, I decided to start my decorating in my bedroom, because _that_ is my favorite place in my apartment. After that, I decided to go in order from the right to the left. I just finished doing the bathroom when my life started getting busier and I didn't have time to do the living room or the kitchen." He pulled two steaming mugs from the microwave and stirred in the hot cocoa mix. "When we're done, I would be pleased to show you that the bathroom is not the most decorated room in the house. There's my bedroom, the guest room, and even the one walk-in closet in the hall."

Lorelai smiled as the hot drink was placed in front of her. "Oh, I guess I can accept that explanation. It sure does sooth the thoughts in my brain that were telling me how abnormal you must be."

"I'm glad that your mind has been assured that I am completely normal." Luke returned her smile and studied Lorelai's now semi-wet state. Her long, dark hair seemed untamed as it rested on her small shoulders, its ends dripping water on her otherwise dry tank top. Other small drops of water still rested in the dark colored lashes that complimented her blue eyes so well.

Tearing his eyes away from Lorelai, he reminded himself why he had brought her here. He wanted to talk to her about the incident in the mall. "So," he cleared his throat, "about Saturday."

The amusement in Lorelai's eyes quickly evaporated, being replaced by something Luke couldn't quite explain.

"It was nothing," she said softly, refusing to meet his gaze.

Luke sighed. "We both know that it wasn't nothing. Now will you please tell me what happened?"

Lorelai closed her eyes. Christopher appeared suddenly, causing her eyes to break apart quickly. Glancing at Luke, she saw the concerned expression on his face and wanted to tell him that everything really was all right. But there was one problem, everything wasn't all right. Swallowing hard, she shrugged. "I ran into an old boyfriend that I didn't want to run into."

Luke was hardly convinced. "And why didn't you want to run into him?"

"It," she paused, "it ended badly. On both of our parts." She played with the soup spoon that he had left in her cup, but accidentally knocked the cup onto herself, soaking her shirt in hot cocoa and the tiled floor. "Ah shoot, I'm sorry."

Luke couldn't help but stare at the stain that made her white shirt see-through. Quickly gaining his composure he tore his eyes away. "No, no it's fine I'll uh get you a rag or something, hold on." Scowling at himself for staring at her a little too long, he stood and made his way out to the hallway closet.

Lorelai sighed then stood waiting patiently since the hot cocoa was a little to hot and she felt the stinging already. Luke came back with a white wet cloth and without thinking placed it himself onto her stomach. Startled Lorelai flinched from the contact partly because of the coolness and partly because of the closeness.

Luke noticed the movement and looked into her eyes which were downcast at the floor. "Oh I'm sorry I uh didn't think and um here." Luke handed over the wet cloth and backed away.

"It's fine just a bit cold is all." Lorelai gave him a half smile to reassure him. Luke realized that the cloth was just making the shirt even more soaked then it already was. Sighing he looked away.

"Do you by chance have another shirt in that bag of yours?" Luke questioned feeling his face heat up from seeing how Lorelai was practically exposed.

Lorelai noticed this and laughed. "No can't say I do. Are you alright? Your face has turned six shades of red already."

Luke swallowed hard. "Yeah just fine it's a little hot in here. You can borrow one of mine then, follow me." Luke motioned for Lorelai to follow.

When they neared the door at the end of the hall Luke stopped short. "Now you can see how my favorite place in the house is not the bathroom, it's my bedroom."

Luke opened the door and held it open for Lorelai to enter. The first thing Lorelai noticed was all the plaid. The curtains on the window had green and white plaid along with his bed covers and the rug. Turning around towards the closet where Luke was in search of a shirt for her, she tried to control the fit of laughter that was threatening to come out. Immediately when Luke turned to face her with the shirt in hand, she let it all go.

Luke's confused expression told her he had no idea why she was laughing hysterically. "What? Is it really that bad?"

Lorelai's laughter subsided and she regained her composer. "Your bathroom has plaid. Your room Luke is all plaid. And the flannel shirt you picked out is plaid too." Lorelai was smiling at this point with an amused expression.

"I do not have an obsession with plaid if that's what you're getting at." Luke grunted rolling his eyes handing over the button down shirt to Lorelai.

"Well you don't have me convinced, I'm pretty sure if you had the time to finish decorating the house, it'd be all plaid." Lorelai joked rushing into the bathroom before Luke had time to defend himself.

Luke chuckled running his hands through his hair which was now not as wet as earlier. He realized he still had yet to change from his clothes, so he changed into dry sweatpants while Lorelai was still in the bathroom. When he finished he noticed she was still not out, so he decided to play a prank on Lorelai to get back at her for making fun of his plaid.

When Lorelai emerged from the bathroom she noticed Luke wasn't in the hallway, curious she walked into his bedroom to see if he was still in there. "Luke?"

No answer. She walked farther inside, but once she passed the door Luke jumped from behind her and started tickling her.

"Luke!" Lorelai couldn't help but to laugh trying to get him to stop she started squirming. Eventually they ended up falling on the bed, Lorelai landing flat on her back with Luke hovering over her and still tickling her.

"Do I have an obsession with plaid still?" Luke said chuckling while beginning to lessen up on the tickling.

"No!" Lorelai laughed running out of breath. Luke smirked then stopped tickling her.

They stayed in the same position breathing hard trying to regain their composure. Luke gazed into her pools of blue as she stared back into his. Lorelai noticed Luke's eyes traveling down from her eyes to her lips then slowly beginning to move his head closer to hers.

Lorelai couldn't help but to let her eyes travel from his eyes to his lips as they moved closer to hers, shutting her eyes she waited for his lips to meet hers, but immediately she felt his body stiffen and roll over so that he was lying on his back positioned next to her.

Lorelai heard Luke groan and then quickly she realized what had been about to happen. She was about to get too close to someone. Too close for her comfort. Too close to someone she isn't suppose to get close to. What she didn't know was that Luke was thinking the same thing. She stiffened when she felt Luke move again, but realized he was only getting off the bed. When she glanced upward she noticed Luke staring at her too intently.

"What?" She questioned arching an eye brow.

Luke smirked then turned around to leave the room, but not without replying. "You match the bed sheets." He really wanted to say _you look good in my shirt_.

Lorelai half smiled then followed right after him out the room and into the kitchen. "Not funny."

Luke smirked then started rummaging through the cabinets obviously looking for something. With no such luck he sighed then turned around to face Lorelai who had a confused expression on her face. "I was trying to search for the chocolate to make you another hot cocoa, but I'm all out. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Well I could really use a cup of coffee if you have any." Lorelai said.

"Coffee you want coffee? Do you know what that crap does to your health? It's a death wish." Luke stated incredulously serious.

Lorelai laughed at how serious the man sounded. "Does that mean you don't have any?"

"No I've got some, but drinking coffee at your age isn't healthy."

"Luke calm down I'm seventeen not seven. I'm practically an adult. Please make me some coffee." For the first time in a long time Lorelai was able to give her pout. Luke caved the moment she did and sighed.

"Not fair." Luke grumbled turning around to make the coffee.

Lorelai smiled then went over to the living room and sat down on the couch making herself comfortable. She waited patiently observing the living room a little more closely while Luke made her coffee. She glanced over at the television stand and noticed a few photos inside the glass. Looking towards the kitchen she noticed that Luke was still occupied, so she decided to get a better look. Rising off the couch she made her way over to the photos and examined each one.

The first photo that caught her eye was the one of Luke and some guy, which she recognize was the same one that was with Luke Saturday, they were sitting on a porch talking. The next one was of two little boys laughing, and the last one she saw was one of Luke, but younger, closer to her age, with the same guy in the other photos and a girl is the middle of them. From the angle of the photo Lorelai noticed the girl had taken the photograph of all three of them together.

With the coffee mug in hand Luke made his way over to the living room, and noticed Lorelai looking at the photos he had of Seth and himself. Luke stood still watching Lorelai, he couldn't help but to smile seeing her clad in his shirt and her long legs in which didn't display her short shorts since his shirt was rather large on her. Quickly shaking his head he decided it was time to make his presence noticed. "Enjoying yourself?"

Startled Lorelai turned and saw Luke staring at her with the same intensity that he had in the room. "You looked cute when you were a kid." Lorelai said, holding up the photo of Luke and his brother when they were kids.

"I don't know why I keep that there." Luke grumbled walking over to her to hand her the coffee.

"I think it's adorable. Is that your brother?" Lorelai questioned.

Luke sighed then nodded making he was way over to the couch and sitting down. He patted the spot next to him for Lorelai to sit. Lorelai placed the photo back onto the shelf and positioned herself next to him.

Lorelai took a sip of the coffee and sighed of content. "For a guy who hates coffee, you are an amazing coffee maker. This has to be the best coffee I have ever had."

Luke chuckled in response shaking his head. Sighing he looked back at Lorelai trying to figure out more about her. Lorelai felt his gaze and looked into his eyes, upon seeing his perplexed expression she glanced away.

Silence followed for the next couple of seconds.

Luke was the first to break it. "Earlier you said you were upset because you ran into your old boyfriend. There's more to it, isn't there?"

Lorelai sighed. Luke wasn't going to give up until he heard the truth. But could she trust him with the truth? And if she did tell him, would he even believe her? No one else had. She looked deep into his eyes, looking for any reason why she shouldn't tell him.

Finally deciding that she didn't really have anything to lose, she took a deep breath and began. "I used to date the school quarterback, Christopher Hayden." She heard the disgust in her own voice as she practically spit out his name. "We dated for a long time and it got to the point that I thought I was ready to…."

There was a long pause. "To?" Luke prompted, afraid of what the answer might be.

"To tell him," her voice choked. "To tell him that I loved him." She took another sip of the coffee and placed it on the table. "But then it went all wrong."

There was a knock on the apartment door and Luke wanted to roll his eyes. He was just getting Lorelai to open up to him. Why did someone have to interrupt?

Sighing, he pushed himself to a standing position. "I'll be back in a minute." At Lorelai's nod, he headed into the living room and pulled open the front door. A face similar to his own greeted him. "Hi, Seth."

"Hey, bro." Seth pushed past Luke, stepping into the apartment. "Rachel is spending the evening shopping with some friends, so I thought that you might like to do something with your little brother. I-"

He stopped abruptly and Luke followed his gaze to the backpack that Lorelai had left resting by the hallway next to her shoes. Wincing, Luke looked at his brother's surprised expression.

Seth raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had a guest." He stepped back towards the doorway. "I guess I'll just be going then, I-"

"That's okay," Lorelai said from where she stood in the entryway of the kitchen. "I was just leaving anyway."

Luke wanted to object, not knowing the next time he would be able to get Lorelai's guard down enough to tell him what had happened to her, but instead he gave a sigh and nodded at her. Ignoring his brother's confused and shocked expression, he reached for Lorelai's bag and handed it to her. "I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked as she slipped into her shoes.

"Yeah." Lorelai nodded at Seth, flashing Luke a smile as she walked out the door.

"I thought you said that there wasn't anything between the two of you?"

"There wasn't. I mean, there _isn't_. There can't be." Luke said firmly.

Seth smiled slightly. "But you want there to be something."

"No, I don't. She's a high school student, ten years my junior. Not to mention that it's against school rules for a teacher or a coach to have a relationship that isn't school related."

"So now you're going to tell me that you, the basketball coach, was helping this girl, whom may I add was wearing only your shirt, with her homework?" Seth was skeptical. Then a light bulb seemed to come on, lighting his face with a sly smile. "That was the same girl that we ran into at the mall the other day, wasn't it?"

Luke sighed and sank down onto the couch.

"It was," Seth declared, obviously pleased with himself. "It's nice to see that my big bro is finally interested in someone."

"Did you not hear what I just said? There's nothing between us. There isn't and there can't be." But if that was true, why did Luke's heart seem to be screaming otherwise? And why was he wishing that he was talking with her instead of his brother?

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**Thanks for the reviews. Eh I have to say I honestly rushed through this chapter. It may not be its best. Review please. **


	7. Avoidance & Denial

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and support and I'm terribly sorry for the wait.**

**:)**

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Lorelai leaned against the wall, listening to the steady beating of the basketball against the hardwood floor. She had been standing outside of practice for almost twenty minutes now trying to decide how to deliver her note to Luke. Her note. She glanced down at the folded piece of paper in her hand. She had stayed up pretty late the previous night trying to find the right words to put into her note. Lorelai knew that she wasn't ready to talk about what had happened between her and Christopher, the pain was just too raw. She didn't know how she had come so close to explaining everything to Luke the day before. It could have ruined the nice friendship that had formed between them. But wasn't that what she was about to do? Ruin the friendship. She again glanced down at the note in her hands, but this time she unfolded it, her eyes scanning the page.

_Dear Luke, I appreciate the friendship that you have offered me this past week. It's been a while since I've felt like I could trust anyone, but with you it came so easily. I'm sorry to say though, I don't think I can continue being your friend. I just feel too fragile right now and I don't think that my heart could take another break should anything happen. Thank you so much for being such a good friend through this short time. You have already helped me so much. Your friend, __Lorel_ai_. _

It sounded so personal as if she had known him for months, not days. Lorelai didn't want to give up Luke's friendship, but she considered it best for both of them. He was a coach at her school and she was a girl who just couldn't seem to completely trust anyone. Lorelai couldn't deny the way her heart had skipped a beat the day before when she had seen him out in the rain. And when he had put his hands on her shoulders, she had gotten a surprising urge to kiss him, which scared her to death. She was never going to allow herself to kiss or be kissed by a man ever again. And those were the reasons that had driven her to write that note. Maybe she hadn't given him enough of a chance, but she couldn't risk falling for Luke and then having to let him go or having him break her trust. It just wasn't worth it.

Taking another glance inside the gym, she first looked to see where Luke was. He stood at the other end of the gym, his back to her as he explained a play to his team. A smile pulled at her lips as she remembered playing basketball with him, but she quickly wiped it off her face. That wouldn't help her achieve her mission. She tore her gaze from him and was delighted to see that Luke's bag rested on the end of the bleacher nearest to her. What luck. Slowly she pushed open the swinging door and tiptoed to the black duffle bag. Glancing around to make sure that no one was watching her, she slipped the note inside and retreated into the school hallway with a sigh. There, she had done it. But why didn't she feel any better? Groaning, she made her way outside. The cool breeze greeted her and she pulled her jacket a little closer to her body. The dreary day seemed to fit her unhappy mood. The gray clouds that rested in the sky above seemed to be pouting as they floated around, threatening to drop tears at any moment. Yup, that was exactly how Lorelai felt. In fact, when she was safely tucked into her car, the tears came. She didn't know why she was having such a hard time refusing Luke's friendship. If it would have been anyone else, she could have let them go in the blink of an eye. Why was this man, that she had known for a week, getting to her so much?

* * *

Luke glanced at his watch for the thousandth time since practice had ended. Where was Lorelai? She hadn't missed a day of running since he had met her. Sighing, he walked to his car. The wind was picking up, so he wanted to grab the jacket from his bag. With a swift movement, he unzipped the black gym bag. As he reached in for his jacket, his hand connected with something else. A piece of paper? He surely couldn't remember putting something like that in there. Luke pulled it from his bag and unfolded it. The small paragraph was written neatly, the words cutting into him the farther he got.

Crumpling the paper, Luke let out a deep sigh. He had gotten too close to the truth and scared Lorelai off. He wanted to kick himself for pushing her the day before. He should have known how tough it was for her to discuss her past. He too was reluctant to talk about his past. Maybe if he talked to her, he could tell her that he was sorry. But when would he get the chance? When she was leaving school, he was in basketball practice and he didn't know where she lived. Getting in the car, he found himself wondering when Lorelai had slipped the paper into his bag. He would have remembered seeing her.

He made the short drive to his apartment and was just stepping inside when the phone rang. Dropping his bags at his feet, he walked over to his portable phone and glanced at the caller ID. Letting out a short groan he picked up the phone and offered a gruff hello.

"Really, Luke, you think you could give your mother a little more polite of a greeting. And don't say that you didn't know it was me, because I know you have caller ID."

Luke wanted nothing more than to hang up, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't find that very polite either. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm just having a bad day."

"Well, I guess I can let you off the hook this time. It's not every day that my older son isn't as polite as he should be." Her voice was laced with obvious sarcasm as the words slipped from her mouth.

Luke tried to ignore how the words hurt him. It wasn't that he didn't agree with her. It was what he heard between the lines. The fact was both of his parents seemed to favor the younger of their two boys. Luke usually didn't let it get to him, but for some reason it had gone straight to his heart this time. Sighing, he leaned his back against the wall. "Did you need something, Mother?"

Amy cleared her throat, obviously putting her frustration with Luke behind her. "I was calling to make sure that we'd see you at dinner this Friday."

"Mom, I said I'd be there, didn't I?" Luke almost snapped. "Sorry." Again.

"I don't know what's gotten you feathers so ruffled, young man, but you really shouldn't let things bother you so much. It's very unattractive to be so irritable." Amy paused. "Maybe if you had adjusted your attitude sooner you would be married now instead of your brother."

Luke couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care if his mom hated him for it, but he allowed his finger to slide to the off button on the phone and hang up. He might've deserved losing the girl that he loved, but he didn't think he deserved getting his nose rubbed in it.

Luke wasn't at all surprised when the phone rang two minutes later. Ignoring it this time, he head down the hall. Maybe a nice long nap would make him feel better. Well, it would make him feel better until he woke up again.

* * *

Lorelai hurried through the school hallway. It was before school, but she knew that Luke would be looking for her. He wasn't the kind of guy to give up without a fight. She didn't know how she knew that, but somehow she did. Glancing down a hallway to the left, she hurried past it. Her goal was to get to her locker and get to her first class before Luke found her. She knew that she would have to face him about this some time, but she wasn't sure what to say to him yet, so she was going to put it off for as long as possible.

Lorelai quickly entered the combination for her locker and pulled it open. The hallway was quite empty, but that's why she had requested a locker in this area. The school didn't use much of the rooms or the lockers at the east end of the school, where she was, because it was older and not insulated as well as the rest of the school. However, the more students they got, the more they had to use that end. But for now, there were only five lockers in use. Hers and Gwen's being two of those five.

Footsteps at the other end of the hall alerted her of company. Her head snapped up quickly, a frown creasing her face as she recognized the person. Shutting her locker with a loud "thud", she made a beeline for the nearest girl's bathroom, which was conveniently located about eight feet away. As she pushed through the swinging door she was aware of her name being called, but she refused to turn back. Once safely in the bathroom, she leaned against the sink with a sigh of relief.

The door swung open momentarily and Lorelai thought that he had followed her in, but then she looked up. Smiling, she pushed herself up so that she was sitting on the counter.

"Are you going to tell me why you're being followed by the new, and quite handsome, basketball coach?" Gwen asked, her brown eyebrows lifted in suspicion.

Lorelai shrugged. "It's nothing. He probably just wanted to ask me something."

"Then why didn't you just stop and answer the poor man? I mean, what if he has somewhere to be, but doesn't know how to get there?"

"Come on, Gwen, the school isn't that big. I'm sure he'll find his way." Lorelai stepped into one of the stalls, trying to avoid anymore conversation on the subject.

"If you say so," Gwen replied slowly.

But Lorelai knew that Luke wanted to ask her something much more important than directions to somewhere in the school. She wasn't ready to tell him what he wanted to know though. She wasn't ready to trust him.

* * *

Luke stared out into the drizzling rain as he waited in his car. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but he sure wasn't ready to go into his parents' house yet. He had had a bad week and he wasn't sure that ending it with this dinner was such a great idea. Luke hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Lorelai about her note, which frustrated him more than he wanted to let on, and he hadn't spoken to his mom since their disagreement on the phone. If he knew his mother, she'd still be holding a grudge on him for hanging up before their conversation was properly finished. But he didn't care if she was angry with him. He figured that he had the right to do what he did.

When it came to Lorelai though, he knew that he hadn't had the right to dig into her personal life. Why had he thought that he deserved to know what had happened to her? Luke had an idea of what had occurred to make Lorelai the way she is and that's all he needed to know right now. He had only known the girl for a week, after all.

He slowly reached up and rubbed his temples, trying to magically make his headache disappear. Maybe his mom was right. Maybe if he did have a better attitude he wouldn't be the outcast of his family and he might not have lost the love of his life. Well, he always considered her to be the love of her life, but was she really?

Sighing, he drew his attention back outside scanning the driveway. Seth and Rachel's SUV was parked in front of his car, but other than that the gravel driveway was empty. His parents' cars were most likely parked in their garage that connected to their house.

Groaning at the thought of getting soaking wet walking up the long path to the front door, he peered into the back seat of his car and scanned the area for his umbrella. It wasn't there. Just his luck.

Luke put his hand on the door handle and counted to three before hurrying out of his car and to the front door of his parents' house. When he was safely on the porch, he shook a little bit, trying to get some of the water off, and then lifted a finger to push the doorbell. He could here the chime of it as he waited on the porch. Seconds later the door was opened and a petite maid, with a welcoming smile on her face, greeted him.

"You must be, Luke." At his nod she motioned for him to come inside. "Right this way, please."

Luke followed the maid towards the living room and found his parents, his brother, and his sister-in-law gathered in the room. Seth seemed to be the only one that was happy to see him. The younger brother jumped up from his seat and gave Luke a bear hug, while the others just sat and stared politely. His father's expression held no emotion as he looked at his oldest son and his mother seemed to be glaring at him, obviously still upset over what had happened on the phone a few nights before. Luke's eyes carefully drifted to Rachel, who was smiling politely, but who was obviously uncomfortable with the situation. Well, so was he.

William Danes stood abruptly and reached for his wife's hand. "Shall we eat then?"

Murmurs of agreement filled the room and the five of them took their seats in the dining room. Luke definitely felt like a fifth wheel as he sat at the table with the rest of his family. There was a parent on each end and Seth and Rachel sat across from him, while he sat alone on one side. Maybe he should have brought a date. His thoughts suddenly went to Lorelai and he wanted to kick himself for somehow connecting her with a date. It probably was for the best that she had broke things off early on. He needed his job at the high school and he shouldn't risk losing it. Still though, he wasn't all too happy about the decision. He had found himself missing his afternoon runs with Lorelai every day after practice; missed the witty banter that they had passed back and forth during that time.

Frustrated, Luke found himself hitting his plate a little too hard with the knife as he cut his stake. He chanced a glance up and noticed that everyone was staring at him. Seth's eyes were the first he met and he found amusement lying in his younger brother's eyes. He then looked at his parents and thought of the phrase "if looks could kill". Drawing his eyes back to his food, he mumbled, "Sorry."

The meal was fairly quiet, everyone making only a couple comments throughout. After everyone's plates were cleared, they decided to adjourn back to the living room. William took the lead, while his mother tucked her arm in Rachel's and followed. Seth hung back next to Luke.

"You look troubled, bro. Having problems with your girlfriend?"

Luke rolled his eyes, pulling his brother to the side, so that no one else would hear what they were talking about. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, come on, Luke, you like her. Why can't you just admit it?"

"Cut it out, Seth," Luke snapped, glowering down at his brother. "If anything would develop between me and Lorelai, then I could get fired and not have enough money to finish culinary school. Do you really thing that's such a great idea? Why are you encouraging this?"

"Because I feel guilty," came Seth's shouted reply, taking Luke by surprise. "It was my fault that your heart got broken the first time and I feel guilty about that." He slowly lowered his voice. "I just want you to find the person that's right for you. And if that person is a girl ten years younger than you, who threatens your job, as long as she makes you happy, I think that it's worth it. And it's worth it, because you deserve that. You deserve to be loved and to love someone."

"Is everything okay?"

Seth and Luke both followed the sound of the voice and found Rachel standing uncertainly in the doorway.

"Everything's fine, honey," Seth replied calmly, before turning back to his brother. "And that's why I'm encouraging it."

He then swiveled around and walked into the living room with his wife, leaving a baffled Luke standing alone in the hallway. He really did long to love someone, but was Lorelai really that person?

* * *

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